Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

30 minutes	Part B: Plastic Oceans
15 minutes	Part C: What Do We Need To Know About Plastics In Our Oceans?
5 minutes	Reflection

Part A: Activating Prior Knowledge

Step 1.

Differentiation:

For students who have completed the previous lessons in this unit:

Remind students of the driving question posed earlier in this unit: How are we connected to the ocean?
Invite students to complete a THINK-PAIR-SHARE routine around the following questions:
- How do we need the ocean?
- How might we impact the ocean?
Once complete, ask students to share some of their ideas with the class and explain that they will be exploring answers to the second question in more detail in this lesson. This will help them to understand the answers to the driving question (How are we connected to the ocean?) in more detail.

For students who have not completed the previous lessons in this unit:

Begin this lesson by projecting or distributing the following image (available on the Student Worksheet):

Invite students to annotate the image by adding the ways we need the ocean around one hand and the ways we impact the ocean around the other. Students can then share their ideas with the class. Through this sharing process ensure that students understand the following:
- We need the ocean:
  - To regulate our weather and climate
  - For two-thirds of the oxygen that we breathe
  - To absorb a large amount of the carbon dioxide that we produce
  - For food and nutrition
  - For cultural, spiritual, emotional and recreational reasons
- We impact the ocean in a range of ways, including overfishing, ocean acidification and warming, and waste and pollution. Explain to students that they will explore plastic waste in more detail in this lesson.

Part B: Plastic Oceans

Step 1.

Now pose the following question to students and invite each student to work independently to make as many notes as they can in response to this question (also available on the Student Worksheet). Give students one or two minutes to answer the question.

What do you already know about plastic waste and our oceans?

Once complete, invite students to share their ideas and record some main points on the board and try to group them into themes. Note: Keep these points on the board throughout this lesson.

Step 2.

Students will now watch a clip from Take 3 For The Sea and participate in a guided discussion around this clip. This clip explores some of the impacts of plastic waste on our oceans.

Show the clip once through for students so they can watch it from start to finish without interruptions. You could then replay the clip and conduct the guided discussion. You can use the following timings and questions in your guided discussion (discussion points and some suggested answers included below):

https://vimeo.com/451388496/76622fea03

00:08 - Read this quote and discuss what you think this quote means.
00:20 - Why do you think plastic might be "an absolute disaster for our ecosystem"? After students make some suggestions, explain that this clip will help them understand this statement more.
1:37 - Consider this statement by Maddison: "They estimate that four to twelve million tonnes (of plastic waste) are ending up in the marine environment each year." What does this statement make you think and feel? Most of us can't get our heads around a number like this so it's often better to break it down into something we can actually visualise. Now watch until the next time stamp.
1:45 - Consider this statement by Tim: "It's about a garbage truck full of plastic every single minute." How does this make you think and feel? How does this help you understand the quantity of plastic waste entering the oceans?
2:05 - What does Madeline tell us about plastic pathways?
Suggested answer: Any tributary going to the sea will be carrying plastics with it, such as creeks, rivers and stormwater drains. Also the wind can carry some plastics.
2:27 - "One million marine animals each year starve to death because of ocean plastics." Can you explain this statement further? Why are they starving to death?
Suggested answer: Many marine animals mistake plastic for their natural food sources and will eat the plastic. The plastic fills them up but doesn't provide the animals with any nutrition and the animals end up starving to death.
2:33 - What do you think the term 'plastic soup' might mean?
Suggested answer: Plastic soup refers to the plastic waste floating in our oceans, including the very small (the nano and microplastics) and the very large (like fishing nets and items lost from shipping containers). Plastic soup is also what marine animals are eating.
3:08 - What do you think about the statement "A devastating realisation of just how disconnected we can be"?
3:52 - How much do you already know about the plastics that are hard to see (microplastics) and the ones that we can't see (nanoplastics and plastic chemicals)?
4:08 - Here you'll find a discussion about polyolefins. To find out more about polyolefins, read this article.
4:57 - What do you think Madeline is talking about when she says that there is estimated to be a lot of plastic in the atmosphere?
Suggested answer: There are plastic particles floating around in the air that we could be/are breathing.
5:59 - What do you think Bruce is referring to when he says the plastic in the ocean feels like it's making his nanna or family sick?

Step 3.

Once complete, invite students to take another look at the ideas you recorded earlier in response to the question: What do you already know about plastic waste and our oceans? Work as a class to respond to the following:

Which of these ideas were featured in the clip?
What new ideas would you like to add to the board?

Step 4.

Explain to students that they will now participate in another guided discussion, except this time they will be creating the discussion and selecting the time-stamps where the clip will be discussed and stopped.

Again begin by sharing the following clip from start to finish without interruptions. Alternatively, students could find their own clip to create a guided discussion around (it would be best if clips are limited to three minutes so explain to students that they can select a section of any clips they choose to focus on):

Plastic Ocean (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_2NuK5O-E)

Once complete break the class into groups and each group will be assigned the clip or part of the clip to concentrate on and create a guided discussion for (or they can find their own clip). This could be done by one of the following methods, depending on student numbers and time available:

Split the clip into two or three parts based on timings (e.g. divide the clip in half or thirds) with one group tackling each part. These groups could then come together and present their guided discussions to each other.
Each group could be assigned the whole clip but focus on a particular theme in this clip. The themes could be the explicit themes in the clip (e.g. benefits of plastic, the lifespan of plastic, global plastic production, ocean impacts, impacts on animals) or themes based on year level curriculum connections (see table below).
Each group could be assigned the whole clip and create three to five discussion points based on the whole clip, choosing the points they find most interesting or important.

Once groups have selected the places in the clip where they want to stop for discussion, they need to pose a question or discussion point and research some material that can be used to answer their question or prompt further discussion. Remind students to consider the Online Search Strategies when conducting research online.

Step 5.

Each group should then have the chance to present their clip and guided discussion. Other groups should be encouraged to watch and participate in the guided discussion.

Step 6.

Once each group has had the chance to host their guided discussion, return to the notes recorded on the board and pose the question:

After analysing this clip, what new ideas would you like to add to the board?

Add any new ideas to the board.

Part C: What Do We Need To Know About Plastics In Our Oceans?

Step 1.

Explain to students that they will now begin thinking about what they would like to know about plastic waste and our oceans, and develop a series of questions that can guide an inquiry.

The first step in this process is to identify where students have gaps in knowledge about plastic waste and our oceans. These knowledge gaps are called their ‘need to knows’.

They will do this by working in pairs to conduct a brainstorming activity to identify these need to knows.

Ensure each pair has some blank paper and each student has a pen. Ask each group to write ‘What are our ‘need to knows’ about how we impact the ocean?’ at the top of the page. They will then have ten minutes to come up with as many ideas as they can.

Because this activity encourages students to demonstrate what they don’t know rather than what they do it is important to set some ground rules. These could include:
No idea is off limits - Even those ideas that seem a bit weird or uninformed at first glance can be extremely useful for inspiring other ideas. Also, there’s a good chance that if you don’t know something, other people won’t know it either.
No idea should be criticised - Through this process you will have the chance to explain and discuss your ideas but try not to get bogged down in the details. At this stage it is important that everyone is free to come up with as many different ideas as they want, without fear of judgement or criticism.

Note: You could direct students towards particular lines of inquiry according to their year level curriculum connections, for example:

Year level	Curriculum connections	Examples of need to knows
7	The ways that water connects places The economic, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic value of the ocean Oceans and liveability	The ways water sources transport waste How waste affects the value of the ocean How marine pollution affects livability of coastal areas
8	Human causes and effects of landscape degradation Protecting landscapes	How human actions on land degrade marine environments How views about the ocean affect the actions we take to protect it
9	Food production and fishing Perceptions people have of place and how these inform their connections to places	Impacts of waste on fishing Ways that people think and feel about impacting and protecting the ocean
10	Human-induced environmental changes that challenge sustainability	How sustainable management of marine environments is impacted by waste

Note: There are other ways besides plastic waste that humans impact the oceans. You can choose to encourage students to explore some of these impacts as well or focus on plastic waste.

Step 2.

Once students have had a chance to share, discuss and record their ideas, invite groups to spend some time clarifying their ideas and to begin thinking about how they could start converting these ideas into questions. The aim here is to develop questions that can be answered through inquiry, using either primary or secondary research methods. If students need help in developing their questions, you could share the following factsheet: Generating Questions Factsheet.

OPTIONAL - Part D: Actions For Addressing Your Need To Knows

This activity is for students not completing the rest of this unit. (Students completing the rest of this unit will have the chance to answer their questions in following lessons.)

Step 1.

Each pair should select at least five questions that they created that really interest them (you can adjust the number of questions addressed according to age and ability).

Step 2.

Pairs then need to conduct the research required to answer their questions. This may require:

Conducting research online or in the library
Surveys or interviews
Designing and completing an experiment.

Students can then create a communication piece (e.g. poster or report) to share the results of their research.

Reflection

Invite students to work independently to answer the following questions (also available on the Student Worksheet):

How has this lesson helped you understand the problem of plastics more deeply?
What is still confusing or unclear for you?

Take Action for the Global Goals

If you'd like to explore further the United Nations Global Goals, consider asking your students to carry out a plastic audit at home or in the classroom.

Students should put on gloves, tip out their rubbish onto a tarpaulin, and count the number of pieces of plastic in the bin.

If they do this work at home, they should return with their numbers - you could then make a chart or graph to show plastic waste across the class, and talk about how you might be able to reduce that waste.

Teacher Reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

Take 3 - How Do We Impact The Ocean?

Go to

Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

Additional Info

In this lesson